2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

You know how this goes. Motor Trend is testing an Audi, which means I’m going to hit on three things: It’s fast, the steering feels awful, and the MMI infotainment controller spins backwards. Why? Because Audi has a formula that works very, very well and applies it across the line, warts and all.

Let’s start at the top. The S4 is powered by a comically underrated 333-hp 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 making a supposed 325 lb-ft of torque. I say underrated because other luxury sports sedans with the same power ratings and AWD tend to be a second slower from 0 to 60 mph than the Audi, save the also hilariously underrated BMW 335. For instance, the all-wheel-drive Volvo S60 R-Design is rated at 325 hp and 354 lb-ft and needs 5.3 seconds to hit 60 mph, compared with the Audi’s surprisingly quick 4.4 seconds. That’s as quick as your run-of-the-mill Camaro SS with its 426-hp V-8 and rear-wheel drive. Running the quarter mile in 13.0 seconds flat, the Audi will be door-to-door with the Camaro, though the Chevy will be traveling 4 miles per hour faster than the Audi’s 105.6 MPH trap speed.

The Audi’s accelerative force is the complete package, too. The pull is smooth and linear, unrelenting as it climbs the revs. A resonator in the intake makes for a rather pleasant intake growl as you wind it out while the exhaust belches angrily with each upshift. Helping it along is a quick and slick seven-speed dual-clutch automatic that not only rips off imperceptibly quick shifts, but is so well-programmed in Sport mode that there’s never an occasion when you actually need to use the paddle shifters. (Not to say that we don’t want to use them anyway.) It’s almost Porsche PDK good. On the opposite end it’ll stop from 60 mph nearly as fast as a sports car, needing just 107 feet.

In addition to straight lines, the S4 goes left and right fast, too. That all-wheel-drive grip is as fantastic as it’s ever been, but it’s got a new trick. The electronically controlled rear differential has gotten more aggressive, and as a result, getting deep into the throttle at corner exit will produce a nice little rotation and oversteer. It’s probably not the fastest way to turn a corner, but it makes the S4 so much more interesting to drive hard.

Of course, it has some bad habits. Like all engine-hanging-off-the-nose Audis, its first move is understeer. Get aggressive with corner entry and it’s all push. Get out of the throttle and the nose will tuck back in and once it does, you can get back in the throttle at corner exit and get that tail out. This also brings us to point two on the list, and that is the steering. As is generally the case with Audis, it’s not good. In Comfort, it’s video game controller-light. In Dynamic, the added weight feels completely artificial and there’s still no feel in it. You’ll know you’re understeering because the car isn’t turning as tight as it should, not because the steering wheel is telling you anything. Best to point-and-shoot with this car — blast from corner to corner, slow in, fast out.

Bad habits notwithstanding, it gets the job done. The S4 stuck to the tarmac with 0.94 g of average grip on the skidpad and bested our figure-eight test in 24.9 seconds at 0.78 g average. Those numbers are only slightly behind that American musclecar I mentioned earlier.

When you’re not driving like a teenager on a Mountain Dew binge, you’ll find the S4 an excellent commuting companion. It rides nicely, and the leather-swaddled bucket seats in front and rear are very comfortable. There’s plenty of space inside and a big trunk for all your junk. It’s quiet inside and docile as a Camry in Comfort mode. You can literally drive it with your pinkies. The interior still looks modern and sharp — as long as you don’t order it in mouse fur grey — and MMI is still one of the best infotainment systems on the market, even if it has a million redundant buttons and the stupid wheel spins the opposite way of every other controller out there.

My colleague Carlos Lago calls the A4/S4 the “Camry for the car enthusiast,” owing to its ability to bring together “such a broad spectrum of utility, speed and luxury and bake it in so well.” In his words, “There’s something to be respected about terribly effective cars.” He’s right. The S4 doesn’t pull at the soul like an M3, but it isn’t as narrowly focused, either. It has bandwidth. It can appeal to a broader audience and a broader duty cycle than “drive to track, hot laps, drive home, repeat.” That’s not such a bad thing at all.

We’ve Temporarily Removed Comments

As part of our ongoing efforts to make MotorTrend.com better, faster, and easier for you to use, we’ve temporarily removed comments as well as the ability to comment. We’re testing and reviewing options to possibly bring comments back. As always, thanks for reading MotorTrend.com.

Jonny Lieberman once tweeted that Volvo's real problem is convincing people that the S60 is a credible alternative to the Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3 Series, and Audi A4. On this episode of Head 2 Head, Lieberman compares the 2013 Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design with the 2013 Audi S4 to find out how good the Swede really is.While the Volvo…

Sporty luxury sedans blend dynamic excellence with a large dose of luxury and refinement. On this episode of Ignition, Carlos Lago tests the 2013 Audi S4 with the new sport differential to see if the German sport sedan still meets the above mentioned criteria.Lago starts at the track, where the 333-hp supercharged V-6, dual-clutch transmission, and all-wheel-drive system propel the…

Audi and Buick have reasons to celebrate: the 2013 Audi A4 and S4 as well as the new 2013 Buick Verano have earned high marks from the National Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) during crash evaluations. The Audi A4/S4 sedans achieved a five-star rating in the government agency’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) in overall, front, side, and rollover tests. After…

On today's Head 2 Head, associate road test editor Carlos Lago drives the BMW 335i and Audi S4, two German sport sedans he says represent the delightful middle ground between comfort and performance. While the cars in this comparison have their similarities, Lago digs deep to find significant differences and, of course, determine which one is better.Both cars put out…